{"id":28474,"date":"2025-08-27T08:01:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T12:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=28474"},"modified":"2025-08-27T08:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T12:42:00","slug":"pilot-vs-crew-id-confusion-in-nice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/pilot-vs-crew-id-confusion-in-nice\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot vs Crew: ID Confusion in Nice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve had a few reports from crews facing problems at LFMN\/Nice because their ID cards said <strong>\u201cPILOT\u201d<\/strong> instead of <strong>\u201cCREW.\u201d<\/strong> In one case, a delay caused a missed slot. Other incidents have been reported elsewhere, such as LSGG\/Geneva. The issue isn\u2019t just a matter of wording\u2014it\u2019s about how rules are being applied differently to EU and non-EU operators.<\/p>\n<h4>Why the Confusion?<\/h4>\n<p>At the heart of this is EU security law:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>EU-based crews:<\/strong> Under <a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/reg_impl\/2015\/1998\/oj\/eng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EU Reg. 2015\/1998<\/a>, airport authorities are right to insist on IDs that show <strong>\u201cCREW.\u201d<\/strong> Section 1.2.4.1 requires this wording in English, along with a validity date and other criteria. IDs showing \u201cPILOT\u201d do not meet the EU requirement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-EU crews:<\/strong> These rules don\u2019t apply to you. Instead, you must meet your own national crew ID requirements. <a href=\"https:\/\/www2023.icao.int\/security\/sfp\/pages\/annex17.aspx\">ICAO<\/a> provides guidance in Annex 17 and Doc 8973, but leaves specifics to each country. This means ID formats can vary widely, which sometimes leads to problems at European airports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Reality at LFMN\/Nice<\/h4>\n<p>Despite the legal distinctions, local security often applies a simpler standard\u2014they just want to see <strong>\u201cCREW\u201d<\/strong> on the badge. If your ID lacks it, you could face delays, requests for extra docs (licence, passport), and additional paperwork from your handler (Signature advise that in the case of flight attendants, they will need to be listed as PAX on the Gen Dec if their IDs are not accepted).<\/p>\n<p>Some members report that using IDs from services like <a href=\"https:\/\/ibac.org\/crew-card\">IBAC<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crewid.aero\/\">CrewID<\/a> has avoided problems entirely.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28486\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28486\" class=\"wp-image-28486 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-1024x686.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-1024x686.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-900x604.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-600x403.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale-400x269.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/abignale.jpg 1147w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-28486\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Security may require an escort or additional security clearance if your ID differs from EU requirements.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>What Should You Do?<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>EU crews:<\/strong> Ensure your ID meets EU requirements\u2014\u201cCREW\u201d must appear.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-EU crews:<\/strong> Even though it\u2019s not legally required, consider carrying an ID with <strong>\u201cCREW\u201d<\/strong> clearly displayed. It can save you time and hassle. And just brief your handler in advance if you think your ID might raise questions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"p1\">Have Something to Report?<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\">We rely on member reports to discover these kinds of issues. If you have some extra info, chances are it will be a huge help to other operators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Please get in touch with us<\/strong> on <a href=\"mailto:blog@ops.group\"><span class=\"s1\">blog@ops.group<\/span><\/a> around the clock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve had a few reports from crews facing problems at LFMN\/Nice because their ID cards&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":28490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1192,704],"class_list":{"0":"post-28474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-briefings","8":"tag-lfmn","9":"tag-nice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28474"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28488,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28474\/revisions\/28488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}